Manufacturing method for metallic housing of electronic device

ABSTRACT

A manufacturing method for a metallic housing of an electronic device is provided. The method includes providing a die-casting mold, including a male die and a female die engaging with the male die, the male die defining a pouring gate therein, and the female die defining a cavity therein corresponding to the pouring gate; positioning a metallic outer case in the cavity of the female die as an insert; assembling the male die to the female die to cover the cavity, thereby communicating the pouring gate with the cavity; casting pressured molten metal-alloy into the cavity via the pouring gate to form an inner structural member embedded in an inner side of the outer case; dissembling the male die from the female die to expose the cavity, and removing the outer case and the inner structural member from the female die.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application is a divisional application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 13/951,672, filed on Jul. 26, 2013, which claimspriority to Chinese Application No. 201310304802.7 filed on Jul. 19,2013, the contents of which are entirely incorporated by referenceherein.

FIELD

The present disclosure relates to a housing of an electronic device anda manufacturing method thereof, and more particularly to a metallichousing of an electronic device and a manufacturing method thereof.

BACKGROUND

Magnesium alloy, aluminum alloy, or zinc alloy are often used to makehousings of electronic devices, due to their light weight, highscalability, easy molding, and high structural strength. Becausemetal-alloys do not possess the attractive metallic appearance of puremetals, a metallic layer is coated onto an outer surface of the housingto enhance the metallic appearance.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Implementations of the present technology will now be described, by wayof example only, with reference to the attached figures.

FIG. 1 is an isometric view of an embodiment of a metallic housing of anelectronic device.

FIG. 2 is an exploded, isometric view of the metallic housing of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the metallic housing of FIG. 1,taken along line III-III.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged, cross-sectional view of circled portion IV of themetallic housing of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged, cross-sectional view of circled portion V of themetallic housing of FIG. 3.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged, cross-sectional view of circled portion VI of themetallic housing of FIG. 3.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart of an embodiment of a manufacturing method forthe metallic housing of FIG. 1.

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view of a die-casting mold employed in themanufacturing method of the metallic housing of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIG. 1, an embodiment of a metallic housing 100 adopted inan electronic device (not shown) includes an outer case 20 and an innerstructural member 40. The inner structural member 40 is formed withinthe outer case 20. The metallic housing 100 may be a housing of a tabletor a mobile phone, for example.

Also referring to FIGS. 2 through 4, the outer case 20 is substantiallyrectangular, and includes a bottom plate 24 and a peripheral sidewall 26extending from a periphery of the bottom plate 24. The peripheralsidewall 26 surrounds the bottom plate 24. The peripheral sidewall 26and the bottom plate 24 cooperatively define a receiving chamber 28. Theperipheral sidewall 26 includes an adjoining portion 261 at a peripheraledge thereof, and an extending portion 262 extending from the adjoiningportion 261 toward an inner side of the outer case 20. The adjoiningportion 261 includes a blocking rib 2611 toward the inner side of theouter case 20. The blocking rib 2611 extends along a periphery of theouter case 20, and a cross-sectional view of the blocking rib 2611 is anacute triangle. The peripheral sidewall 26 defines a receiving groove263 between the extending portion 261 and the blocking rib 2611. Thereceiving groove 263 extends along the periphery of the outer case 20and opens toward the inner side of the outer case 20. The receivinggroove 263 includes a bottom surface 2631 and two side surfaces 2633extending substantially perpendicularly from opposite edges of thebottom surface 2631. The bottom surface 2631 is substantiallyperpendicular to the bottom plate 24. The two side surfaces 2633 aresubstantially parallel to the bottom plate 24. The extending portion 262and the blocking rib 2611 respectively form a first blocking surface 265and a second blocking surface 267 on opposite sides of the receivinggroove 263. The first blocking surface 265 and the second blockingsurface 267 are substantially coplanar. The first blocking surface 265forms an obtuse angle with one side surface 2633. The second blockingsurface 267 forms an acute angle with the other side surface 2633.

Also referring to FIGS. 5 and 6, the bottom plate 24 is equipped with aplurality of latching hooks 242 and defines a plurality of receivinggrooves 248. The latching hooks 242 are spaced from each other andprotrude from an inner side of the bottom plate 24. The latching hook242 is substantially cylindrical, and a cross-sectional view of thelatching hook 242 is T-shaped. The latching hook 242 includes aconnecting portion 245 and a latching portion 247 protruding from theconnecting portion 245. The connecting portion 245 is substantiallycylindrical and protrudes substantially perpendicularly from the bottomplate 24. The latching portion 247 is substantially disk-shaped and islocated on a distal end of the connection portion 245 away from thebottom plate 24. A diameter of the latching portion 247 is greater thanthat of the connecting portion 245. The plurality of receiving grooves248 are respectively distributed adjacent to the plurality of latchinghooks 242. A cross-sectional view of the receiving groove 248 is afrusto-triangle. The outer case 20 is made of stainless steel, aluminum,or titanium by forging or die-casting. In the illustrated embodiment,the outer case 20 is made of stainless steel by die-casting. A number ofthe latching hooks 242 is nine. The number of the latching hooks 242 maybe adjusted according to design requirements.

In the illustrated embodiment, the inner structural member 40 is a plateshaped and received in the receiving chamber 28 of the outer case 20.The inner structural member 40 includes a base plate 42 and a framesidewall 45 surrounding a periphery of the base plate 42. Referring toFIG. 4 again, the inner structural member 40 further includes aprotruding flange 47 protruding from the frame sidewall 45. Theprotruding flange 47 extends along an extending direction of the framesidewall 45. The protruding flange 47 is received in the receivinggroove 263. The portions of the frame sidewall 45 adjacent to oppositesides of the protruding flange 47 abut the first blocking surface 265and the second blocking surface 267 to hold the inner structural member40 in the outer case 20.

Referring to FIG. 5 again, the inner structural member 40 is equippedwith a plurality of combining portions 421, and defines a plurality ofcombining grooves 44 on the combining portions 421. The combiningportions 421 protrude from an inner side of the base plate 42 and arespaced from each other. The plurality of combining grooves 44 aredefined on an outer surface of the base plate 42, and receives theplurality of latching hooks 242 respectively to hold the innerstructural member 40. Each combining groove 44 corresponds to acombining portion 421, and includes a linking portion 442 and aresisting portion 446 communicating with the linking portions 442. Thelinking portion 442 is recessed substantially perpendicularly from thebase plate 42, and the resisting portion 446 is depressed into thecombining portion 421. A diameter of the resisting portion 446 isgreater than that of the linking portion 442. The linking portion 442receives the connection portion 245, and the resisting portion 446receives the latching portion 247. The latching portions 247 resist aperiphery of the resisting portion 446.

Referring to FIG. 6 again, the base plate 42 is further equipped with aplurality of protrusion blocks 46 adjacent to the plurality of combininggrooves 44, respectively. A cross-sectional view of the protrusion block46 is substantially a frusto-triangle. The plurality of protrusionblocks 46 are respectively received in the plurality of receivinggrooves 248 of the outer case 20 to hold the inner structural member 40.The inner structural member 40 is made of magnesium alloy, aluminumalloy, or zinc alloy by forging or die-casting. In the embodiment, theinner structural member 40 is made of aluminum alloy by die-casting.Because the inner structural member 40 is formed in the inner side ofthe outer case 20 by die-casting, a manufacturing procedure issimplified and a cost is reduced. Because the outer case 20 is made ofmetals such as stainless steel, aluminum, and titanium, a metallicappearance is achieved, thereby omitting a need for a coating process.

Referring to FIGS. 7 and 8, an embodiment of a manufacturing method ofthe metallic housing 100 is illustrated.

In step 101, a die-casting mold 10 is provided. The die-casting mold 10includes a male die 12 and a female die 14 engaging with the male die12. The male die 12 defines a pouring gate 126, and the female die 14defines a cavity 142 corresponding to the pouring gate 126.

In step 102, the die-casting mold 10 is preheated to a predeterminedtemperature. If the temperature of the die-casting mold 10 satisfies arequirement of the die-casting process, step 102 may be omitted.

In step 103, a metallic outer case 20 is positioned in the cavity 142 ofthe female die 14 as an insert. The outer case 20 includes a bottomplate 24 and a peripheral sidewall 26 extending from a periphery of thebottom plate 24 toward a side thereof. The outer case 20 further definesa receiving groove 263 at an inner side along the peripheral sidewall26. The bottom plate 24 is equipped with a plurality of latching hooks242 spaced from each other.

The outer case 20 may be made by die-casting, extruding, forging, orpunching. In at least one embodiment, the outer case 20 is made bydie-casting. The plurality of latching hooks 24 and the receiving groove263 may be made by a computer numerical control (CNC) process, or beformed by a die-casting process. In at least one embodiment, theplurality of latching hooks 24 and the receiving groove 263 are formedby a die-casting process.

In step 104, the male die 12 is assembled to the female die 14 to coverthe cavity, thereby communicating the pouring gate 126 with the cavity142.

In step 105, pressured molten metal-alloy is casted into the cavity 142via the pouring gate 126 to form an inner structural member 40 embeddedin an inner side of the outer case 20. The inner structural member 40includes a base plate 42, a frame sidewall 45 surrounding a periphery ofthe base plate 42, a protruding flange 47 protruding from the framesidewall 45, and a plurality of combining grooves 44 on the base plate42. The molten metal-alloy is combined with the outer case 20 and iscooled to form the inner structure 40, thereby forming the protrudingflange 47 in the receiving groove 263, and defining the plurality ofcombining grooves 44 respectively receiving the plurality of latchinghooks 242. The molten metal-alloy can be molten magnesium alloy,aluminum alloy, or zinc alloy.

In step 106, the male die 12 is disassembled from the female die 14 toexpose the cavity 142.

In step 107, the outer case 20 and the inner structural member 40 areremoved from the female die 14.

In step 108, the outer case 20 and the inner structural member 40undergo a surface treating process. Burrs and other defects on the innerstructural member 40 resulted from the molding process are removed bythe surface treating process. If an appearance of the inner structuralmember 40 is qualified enough, step 108 may be omitted.

A surface treating process such as polishing step may be added betweenstep 102 and step 103 to remove burrs from the outer case 20 to achievea more attractive metallic appearance.

The outer case 20 can be made of stainless steel, aluminum, titanium andso on, thereby achieving a required metallic appearance of the metallichousing 100. When changing the materials of the outer case, differentmetallic appearances are obtained, thereby omitting a need for a coatingprocess. Additionally, because the inner structural member 40 is made ofa metal-alloy material, a weight of the metallic housing 100 is reduced.

Finally, while various embodiments have been described and illustrated,the disclosure is not to be construed as being limited thereto. Variousmodifications can be made to the embodiments by those skilled in the artwithout departing from the true spirit and scope of the disclosure asdefined by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A manufacturing method for a metallic housing ofan electronic device comprising: providing a die-casting mold comprisinga male die and a female die engaging with the male die, the male diedefining a pouring gate therein, and the female die defining a cavitytherein corresponding to the pouring gate; positioning a metallic outercase in the cavity of the female die as an insert, the metallic outercase comprising a bottom plate, a peripheral sidewall extending from aperiphery of the bottom plate toward a side thereof, and a plurality oflatching hooks spaced from each other at an inner side of the bottomplate, the peripheral sidewall defining a receiving groove at an innerside along the peripheral sidewall; assembling the male die to thefemale die to cover the cavity, thereby communicating the pouring gatewith the cavity; casting pressured molten metal-alloy into the cavityvia the pouring gate to form an inner structural member embedded in aninner side of the outer case, the inner structural member comprising aprotruding flange embedded in the receiving groove, and a plurality ofcombining grooves respective receiving the plurality of latching hooks;dissembling the male die from the female die to expose the cavity; andremoving the outer case and the inner structural member from the femaledie wherein the peripheral sidewall comprises an adjoining portion at aperipheral edge thereof, and an extending portion extending from theadjoining portion toward the inner side of the outer case; the adjoiningportion comprises a blocking rib toward the inner side of the outercase; the blocking rib extends along a periphery of the outer case, anda cross-sectional view of the blocking rib is an acute triangle; thereceiving groove is defined on the adjoining portion between theextending portion and the blocking rib.
 2. The manufacturing method ofclaim 1, further comprising preheating the die-casting mold to apredetermined temperature after positioning the metallic outer case inthe cavity of the female die as the insert and before assembling themale die to the female die.
 3. The manufacturing method of claim 1,further comprising applying a surface treating process to the outer caseand the inner structural member after removing the outer case and theinternal structural member from the female die.
 4. The manufacturingmethod of claim 1, wherein the outer case is made of stainless steel,aluminum, or titanium, and the inner structural member is made ofmagnesium alloy, aluminum alloy, or zinc alloy.
 5. The manufacturingmethod of claim 1, wherein the inner structural member is made ofmetal-alloy and embedded in the inner side of the outer case, the innerstructural member further comprises a base plate and a frame sidewallsurrounding a periphery of the base plate, the protruding flangeprotrudes from the frame sidewall outwardly, and the plurality ofcombining grooves is defined on the base plate.
 6. The manufacturingmethod of claim 5, wherein the bottom plate defines a plurality ofreceiving grooves respectively adjacent to the plurality of latchinghooks, the base plate comprises a plurality of protrusion blocksadjacent to the plurality of combining grooves respectively, and theplurality of protrusion blocks is embedded in the plurality of receivinggrooves respectively.
 7. The manufacturing method of claim 6, whereineach latching hook comprises a connecting portion and a latching portionon the connecting portion; the connecting portion protrudessubstantially perpendicularly from the bottom plate, the latchingportion is located on a distal end of the connection portion away fromthe bottom plate; the inner structural member further comprises aplurality of combining portions protruding from an inner side of thebase plate; the plurality of combining grooves are defined on an outersurface of the base plate; each combining groove comprises a linkingportion and a resisting portion communicating with the linking portions;the linking portion is recessed from the base plate substantiallyperpendicularly and the resisting portion is depressed into thecombining portion; the linking portion receives the connection portion,and the resisting portion receives the latching portion.
 8. Themanufacturing method of claim 7, wherein a diameter of the latchingportion is greater than that of the connection portion, a diameter ofthe resisting portion is greater than that of the linking portion, andthe latching portions resists a periphery of the resisting portion. 9.The manufacturing method of claim 1, wherein the receiving grooveextends along the periphery of the outer case, and comprises a bottomsurface and two side surfaces extending from opposite edges of thebottom surface; the protruding flange is combined to the bottom surfaceand the two side surfaces of the receiving groove.
 10. The manufacturingmethod of claim 9, wherein the extending portion and the blocking ribrespectively define a first blocking surface and a second blockingsurface on opposite sides of the receiving groove; the first blockingsurface and the second blocking surface are substantially coplanar andinclined toward the bottom surface; the first blocking surfaceintersects with one side surface and forms an obtuse angle, and thesecond blocking surface intersects with the other side surface and formsan acute angle; the frame sidewall are combined to the first blockingsurface and the second blocking surface to hold the inner structuralmember.